Professor Paul Cartledge will present an online lecture entitled Ancient Sparta: Myths versus Reality on Thursday, April 7 at 7pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.
The ancient Spartans have given us three words in our English language (spoiler alert: ‘spartan,’ ‘laconic,’ ‘helot’).
That’s a tribute to the Spartan myth – which was started in antiquity by the Spartans themselves, then taken up by pro-Spartan ‘lakonizers,’ and has continued to this day (‘Spartans’ on the US Capitol, ‘Spartans’ in the UK House of Commons). But what was the ‘reality’ of ancient Sparta?
Prof Cartledge has the answer for those who attend the seminar.
Who is Prof Cartledge?
Professor Paul Cartledge is the AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow of Clare College, and formerly the inaugural AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture in the University of Cambridge.
He is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of some 30 books, most recently Democracy: A Life (Oxford University Press, 2018) and Thebes: the forgotten city of ancient Greece (Picador & Abrams, 2020).
Professor Paul Cartledge.
Cartledge’s field of study is Athens and Sparta in the Classical Age, he has been described as a Laconophile. He was chief historical consultant for the BBC TV series The Greeks and the Channel 4 series The Spartans, presented by Bettany Hughes.
Professor Cartledge is also a holder of the Gold Cross of the Order of Honour of Greece and an Honorary Citizen of modern Sparta. Most recently he has been awarded the Commander of the Order of Honour (Ταξιάρχης τῆς Τιμῆς), for his ‘contribution to enhancing Greece’s stature abroad.’
The Victorian Council for Greek National Days has released the program of events for this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
The program involves more than 20 Greek organisations with over 35 events.
Some of these events are also linked to Greek Independence Day, as they were unable to be held last year due to COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria. This includes a visit by the Evzones on Anzac Day.
“We call on the Greek community to participate actively and to share the events as appropriate,” the Chairman of the Victorian Council, Tony Tsourdalakis, said in a press release.
“We have an obligation to our ancestors to remember them.”
A wave of seafood shortages has hit suppliers this month, prompting warnings of price hikes ahead of Easter,Nine News reports.
Easter favourites such as prawns, Sydney rock oysters and Tasmanian salmon have all been affected by a combination of wild weather, COVID-19 and international demand.
Last month a kilogram of salmon could be bought for $29.99. The price is now $10 higher.
In response, the man behind Manettas Seafood Market, Peter Manettas, is urging people to get their seafood orders for Easter in early.
“It’s like the perfect storm,” Manettas told goodfood.com.au.
Peter Manettas. Photo: Janie Barrett.
“There’s a huge shortage of everything at the moment, so it’s 100 per cent a possibility that Easter shoppers may not be able to find what they’re looking for.
“Give your fish mongers time to source that supply for you and ensure they’ve got the active supply in their shop.”
There is some good news though. There’s likely to be plenty of white-fleshed, whole-fish alternatives for the Easter table centrepiece.
High quality blue-eye trevalla, snapper, ocean perch, gurnard and rock flathead are all expected to be available in abundance this year.
Melbourne fertility clinic operator, Natalie Kringoudis, has been fined almost $70,000 for withholding thousands of dollars in parental leave entitlements from an employee, ABC News reports.
Ms Kringoudis, who is the sole-director of the Pagoda Tree Clinic in Victoria’s Albert Park, was taken to court by the Fair Work Ombudsman after complaints from an employee to the Department of Human Services.
The affected employee worked as a Chinese Medicine Practitioner at the clinic when she took parental leave in 2018 to have her first child.
According to the National Tribune, she was owed $12,948 in government-funded parental leave payments but was paid less than half of that.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court found the Pagoda Tree withheld more than $7,000 in parental leave payments, as well as more than $10,000 in annual leave entitlements.
Kringoudis is the sole-director of the Pagoda Tree Clinic in Victoria’s Albert Park.
The Pagoda Tree had received the parental leave funds from the federal Department of Human Services but failed to pay Sarah, the court found.
The outstanding payments were instead transferred to the personal bank accounts of Ms Kringoudis and used to pay for living expenses, including restaurant meals, alcohol and travel.
Following this outcome, the affected employee told ABC News she was surprised to learn that the payments had been intentionally withheld.
“I never expected anything like this to happen. It was very hard financially, it was very hard emotionally,” she said.
Ms Kringoudis was personally fined $10,962, while the company was fined $58,590 for contraventions of the Fair Work Act.
Greece is backing NATO forces in the Alliance’s east wing with light anti-aircraft artillery in line with its commitment to join the NATO Response Force (NRF), which was activated immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to Ekathimerini, the transfer is largely part of NATO’s central decision to support Bulgaria and Romania, the Alliance’s two main eastern coastal countries in the Black Sea.
More specifically, Greece is dispatching four units of light anti-aircraft systems, such as ASRAD-HELLAS, with their personnel and the relevant command liaisons, that comprise about 30 members of the artillery.
ASRAD-HELLAS. Photo: GreekMilitary.net
At the same time, the transfer of forces to Bulgaria and Romania is continuing through the port of Alexandroupoli in northern Greece.
This comes despite local protests in Athens, which saw pro-Russian citizens taking to the streets on foot and in their cars to show their support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and their dislike of NATO expansion in Greece.
Amid air strikes and explosions in the Black Sea port of Odesa, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias arrived in the city on Sunday as the head of a humanitarian mission.
During his mission, Dendias delivered badly-needed aid to city authorities, met members of the Greek diaspora and Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov, and assessed the condition of premises linked with Greek history such as the Museum of the Filiki Etairia.
Greece is present in #Odessa. From today on, the Greek Consulate will be operating again (statement to Greek journalists during my visit in Odessa). pic.twitter.com/CztYz2ROBo
Dendias then announced the reopening of the Greek Consulate in Odessa and thanked Consul General Dimitris Dohtsis and his associates for the way in which they perform their duty.
“The operation of the Consulate will help distribute humanitarian aid and will create evacuation corridors for the Greek community from all areas of Ukraine through Odessa, if the need arises. It also underlines our historic presence in the city,” the Greek Foreign Minister said upon his arrival in Odesa.
Dendias also reiterated Greece’s unwavering support to the Greek ethnic community in Ukraine.
This visit came as Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, expressed his horror at crimes committed against Ukrainian civilians during the retreat of Russian forces from areas around Kyiv.
“Appalled by the horror of crimes committed against civilians in Bucha. The perpetrators must be held accountable. Greece stands with Ukraine,” Mitsotakis tweeted Sunday evening.
Appalled by the horror of crimes committed against civilians in Bucha. The perpetrators must be held accountable. Greece stands with Ukraine.
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) April 3, 2022
A heart-warming memorial in honour of the late Professor Alexander Cambitoglou AO was held at the University of Sydney’s (USYD) MacLaurin Hall on Wednesday afternoon.
On the day, over 100 people were in attendance including the Press Counsellor at the Consulate General of Greece in Sydney, Costas Giannakodimos, and Archdeacon Athenagoras Karakonstantakis, representing His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia.
They, along with many other academics, mingled at the start of the event and shared touching stories about Professor Cambitoglou, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 97.
He was the founder of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens (AAIA) at USYD and left a bequest of approximately $6 million to the facility upon his death.
All photos copyright: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.(L) Dr Stavros Paspalas; USYD Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson AO; and Professor Stephen Garton.Dr Paspalas (L) with the Press Counsellor at the Consulate General of Greece in Sydney, Costas Giannakodimos.
The formal proceedings were then kicked off by the Director of the AAIA, Dr Stavros Paspalas, who introduced a number of close friends and colleagues of Professor Cambitoglou to the stage to give speeches.
Dr Paspalas himself, as well as the Chancellor of USYD, Belinda Hutchinson AO, spoke passionately about the life of Professor Cambitoglou and his contribution to the AAIA, which is a research and education facility focused on Greek and Mediterranean studies with an emphasis on archaeological fieldwork.
The Chancellor described how the Thessaloniki-born Professor was the first person of Greek background to be appointed to a university professorship in Australia as Professor of Classical Archaeology in 1963. He also taught at USYD from 1961 to 1989 and was curator of the Nicholson Museum for 37 years from 1963 until 2000.
“The education dimension of field projects that Alexander directed cannot be overestimated,” Chancellor Hutchinson said.
“Many Australian students went on to become professional archaeologists and owe a great deal of their experience and their careers to the work they did [during these projects].”
(L-R) Chancellor of USYD, Belinda Hutchinson AO, and Director of the AAIA, Dr Stavros Paspalas, gave speeches.
Dr Paspalas agreed with the Chancellor and said Professor Cambitoglou’s legacy “is multi-faceted.”
“Alexander Cambitoglou’s life is one of struggle, commitment and achievement. His legacy is, to quote Thucydides, ‘a possession for all time’,” Dr Paspalas said.
Following the conclusion of these informative speeches by the Chancellor and Dr Paspalas, a number of other colleagues of the Professor also took to the stage to share some personal anecdotes and memories they shared with him.
Emeritus Professor Diana Wood Conroy from the University of Wollongong.
This included Emeritus Professor Diana Wood Conroy from the University of Wollongong; Emeritus Professor Graeme Clarke from the Australian National University (ANU); Emeritus Professor Elizabeth Minchin from the ANU; Professor Alastair Blanshard from the University of Queensland; and Professor Stephen Garton, Principal Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sydney.
All of them drew a picture of a stubborn but kind man, with a dry sense of humour.
Emeritus Professor Conroy shared how she first met Professor Cambitoglou in 1962 when she was only an 18 year old university student. Now, she says, she’s able to reflect back on their friendship and recognise that he was “a driving force” in her life.
Emeritus Professor Graeme Clarke from the ANU.Emeritus Professor Elizabeth Minchin from the ANU.
Others, such as Emeritus Professor Clarke, recalled how whenever he met with Professor Cambitoglou and asked how he was feeling, “he would reply with an expressive shrug of the shoulders and say, ‘we are not immortal’.”
“I think we can confer that, through the course of his 98 years, Alexander remained humorous to the end,” Emeritus Professor Clarke said.
Professor Alastair Blanshard from the University of Queensland.Professor Stephen Garton, Principal Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sydney.
Last, but not least, was Professor Garton who summed up Professor Cambitoglou perfectly when he explained how “there was one of doing things and that was the Alexander way, but he was able to mask that stubbornness with extraordinary charm.”
This comment received a murmur of agreement and laughs from the audience before the formal proceedings wrapped up and people enjoyed some light refreshments and continued to reflect on the extraordinary life of Professor Cambitoglou.
*All photos copyright: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
European Central Bank President, Christine Lagarde, has stated that Cyprus is set to be affected by the increasing financial pressures that will come as a result of the country’s dependency on oil imports for the generation of electricity and energy.
Tourism is set to also see a decrease in the number of visitors from Russia and Ukraine, which made up 32 percent of total arrivals in 2021 combined. Lagarde went on to say that given the importance of Cyprus as a middle point for foreign investment, there will definitely be an interruption to accounting, consulting, and legal services.
“I recognize that Cyprus, like all of Europe, is now facing growing uncertainty,” said Lagarde.
The ECB head noted in her speech, at an event held by the Central Bank of Cyprus, that the fundamental growth of the Cypriot economy has grown over the years due to the hard work conducted after the banking crisis of 2013.
Lagarde noted that the banking sector has been highly capitalised and liquidity and exposures in Russia are limited.
The LEGO figures have been specially-created by Australian ‘Lego Classicist,’ Pop-Artist and Historical Archivist, Liam D. Jensen.
They include General Theodoros Kolokotronis, Alexandros Mavrokordatos and Lord Byron, as well as Laskarina Bouboulina, Manto Mavrogenous and Domna Visvizi.
Mr Jensen tells The Greek Herald that once he heard there was an exhibition in Sydney where he could see two of the original paintings he had based his LEGO portraits on, he knew he had to see them in person straight away.
“The exhibition was wonderful and to have those original paintings and images juxtaposed amongst the vibrant aluminium modern works of art was amazing,” Mr Jensen adds.
The St Basil’s NSW/ACT 1821 Greek Art Exhibition will be open at Sydney’s Town Hall until Sunday, April 3.
It is a collaboration with the Athens War Museum and features rare objects inspired by the Greek Revolution of 1821, as well as the ‘Heroes Made of Metal’ collection of traditional Greek costumes by internationally renowned sculptor Nikos Floros.
There is something about travel to our lost homelands that creates spectral yearnings in me. I have had the great fortune to visit and to experience nearly every country bordering Greece, or other places where the Byzantine legacy remains in culture or edifice.
Nowhere were the ghosts more numerous than in my visit to Smyrna, ten years ago.
Ironically, this is probably because Byzantine and Hellenic legacy is officially expunged from the record in Izmir, whereas in Constantinople there is still a tiny Greek community and the Patriarchate of Constantinople maintains a slipping grip on the spiritual legacy of Byzantium.
It could be, too, that what “The City” represents simply transcends the grave for Byzantine descendents. Whatever it was, even Constantinople did not stir up the same whirl of spectral emotions in me as did Smyrna.
There were no family ghosts in Smyrna for me. My lineal family is all from the Western side of the Aegean, unlike so many of my fellow Greek tourists on this particular trip. We arrived after a brief flight from Athens, and proceeded into the city of Izmir, whose upper town, crescent shaped harbor, and seaside highway immediately brought Salonika to mind.
It was not just topography talking—many of today’s Izimiris were Salonikans, and today’s Salonikans were Smyrnans, the human legacy of the exchange. On the highway to Izmir, we rounded a bend where a huge rock carving bore the likeness of another Salonikan, Kemal Attaturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic.
Declaratively, Izmir greeted us cloaked in Turkish flags, as we arrived on Republic Day. Never had I seen so many flags, not even in post-9/11 America were so many flying, and at sizes ranging from toddler holding with paper jobs, to six story buildings totally draped. Shakespeare’s phrase about “protest[ing] too much” came to mind.
As for clear signs of the Greek legacy in Izmir itself, a Greek seeking many ready reminders of Greek Smyrna will be frankly disappointed. The Greek Quarter was consumed by fire and ploughed under for parkland. Some structures do remain, including a couple of formerly Greek high schools in a high neoclassical style now appropriated by Turkish universities, and some stately homes with gabled second stories known in the Balkans as Turkish houses and in Turkey as Rum (Greek)-style houses.
In today’s Izmir the greatest enemy to remaining Greek architecture is not the erasing efforts of Turkish nationalism, but a far greater enemy and one well known to Athenians, “progress.” Builders arrive with cash and promises of apartments, and mansions of a bygone era come down.
Then there are the Smyrnans of today, the Turkish Izmiris. Absent the veiled women, relatively few in number in this city, one easily sees the faces of Athens, Salonika, Sofia, Skopje or Belgrade. Or Iraklion.
At a café in Smyrna’s upper town, where Turkish couples sipped beer in fashion and form no different from their Balkan neighbors, a fellow, hearing us speak Greek, opened a conversation. He spoke an unsteady Greek filled with Cretan idioms, astonishingly similar to the Cretan dialect I heard from Old Timers from the Greek community in my Salt Lake City, Utah hometown. Switching to his more fluent English, he informed me that his grandparents were Cretan Muslims, that there were hundreds of thousands of Cretan descendants in Turkey, and that “Greeks and Turks are brethren.”
We met others, in the course of our trip, including an elderly café proprietress who shared a Cretan mantinadawith a fellow tour member, a professor born in Crete. Few eyes were dry.
Walking along Izmir’s waterfront, full of swanky apartments every bit the kin and peer of Waterfront Salonika or Glyfada, I expected to feel ghosts, for before arriving I had reread several accounts of the last days of Greek Smyrna, and horrors endured by hundreds of thousands of Asia Minor Greeks and Armenians, caught between fire and sword on the land, and the sick indifference of Allied ships in the harbor.
A quick stroll down the strand was enough.
The blackness of the sea, and the lights of the city easily remind of the countless thousands who met a watery grave. As I was with my new Turkish friends at that particular moment, whose kindness and hospitality easily compares to the best of the Greeks, the ghosts beat a diplomatic retreat.
The nearby ruins of Classical Ephesus conjure images of Greek civilization, and the very font of Christianity, clearly antecedents confirming Asia Minor’s Greek Christian past and the Turks as latecomers and awkward inheritors of its present and future. Here, again, were ghosts of the past, but of an earlier era, lacking the nearness and intimacy of those more closely associated with our era.
It was, rather, the villages near Smyrna, less impacted by modernity, more readily and visually connected to our Greek present, where the ghosts came out in force. There was the village of Urla (Vourla) now nearly a suburb of Izmir, with global chic from the city annexing the charms of a once Greek fishing village. Greece’s Nobel Laureate poet, George Seferis, was born in Urla, and the Turks celebrate this native son with a street and restaurant adorned with Greek and Turkish flags. I thought of his oft quoted lines, “Everywhere I go, Greece wounds me.” I certainly felt the pain here.
Breaking away from the tour, as I often do, I walked the quiet streets of the town, not much changed since the Greeks left these same houses in haste. Then I walked to the small port, in every way the same as a thousand such seaside towns in Greece, and a Turkish sailor sat in the late autumn sun, burned the same crimson as his counterparts in my home island, Hydra, cleaning his nets with the help of a big toe for leverage. I could not help but feel a timeless kinship with the man, a timeless Aegean figure.
North of Smyrna, the town of Foca beckoned. Known until recently as Phocea, its citizens founded the city of Marsailles in France almost three thousand years ago. The Greek presence here ended abruptly in 1922. One of my fellow tourists recalled that his grandfather owned several factories here, sighing the sigh of fate and futility I have so often witnessed on both sides of the Aegean or anywhere in the Balkans, when recalling such things.
We arrived at a port every inch Greek, settling in a fine restaurant eating barbounia at a price and freshness hard to come by. Out at sea we could just make out a hazy silhouette of Lesbos, and over the Karaburun peninsula opposite Chios would have been visible, all linked together in a web of commerce and culture, until the tragic events of the 1920s.
Well sated and on unsteady legs from too much raki and nostalgia, we then took to the back streets of Foca, where the ghosts readily walked the narrow alleys, whose houses had not changed since the 1920s and door lintels often had faded inscriptions in Greek. The exchange might have happened yesterday, from the town’s aura, and so it was just a blink in the eye, relative to the millennia-long history of Hellenism here.
Though Greek Christianity was officially expunged from Asia Minor, its aural presence remained, and physical traces abounded, hidden in plain sight. The DNA and features of the people told a similar story, as did the frequent facility with the Greek language due to pre-exchange ties which still held. This part of Turkey is a must see, not only for what is seen, but more importantly what is not seen, but rather felt.
*Alexander Billinis is an instructor at Clemson University, in South Carolina, USA. He is a licensed attorney, with a former career in law, real estate management, and international banking. He has lived and worked in Greece, the UK, and Serbia, as well as shorter work or study assignments in Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, and Chile. A citizen of both the United States and Greece, he is married and the father of two teenage children.
